If you are interested, let me know by email which lesson you are interested in testing. Below are brief descriptions of the lessons and estimates of how long they will take. (Note: timing is one of the things we won't know until after these lessons are classroom-tested--so take the estimates with a grain or two of salt.)
"Discover Lewis and Clark" is just one of twenty-two different hands-on history footlockers we send to schools. Our footlockers are among our most popular educational resources. Designed for fourth grade—but used successfully in both lower elementary, middle school, and high school classrooms—these thematic "traveling trunks" focus on a wide variety of topics, ranging from the fur-trading and mining industries, to Indian life during the reservation period and today. The only cost associated with using this resource is the cost of shipping the footlocker on to the next school. (This varies by weight and distance but usually averages around $30.) Learn more about the footlocker program here.
Teachers think our footlockers are an incredibly valuable resource, but that doesn't mean that they can't be updated and made even more valuable. Which brings us back to Discover Lewis and Clark! Here are the new lessons that need to be tested. If you teach fourth grade and would like to test one or more of these lessons in your classroom this September, please let me know.
Lesson 1: Starting the Expedition (two 50-minute class
periods, best used in conjunction with at least one other lesson)*
Students will examine the
contents of the footlocker and try to guess what topic the class will be
studying over the next few weeks. They will end their exploration of the
artifacts and images with a quick write, detailing what they know, imagine, or
wonder about the Lewis and Clark Expedition and Montana in 1805 at the time of
Lewis and Clark. Finally, they will read some background information to learn
what the expedition goals were.
Lesson 2: Wayfinding
(two 50-minute class periods)
Students will make
rudimentary sextants and learn how to use them before taking them home to measure
the latitude at which they live in relation to the North Star.
Lesson 3: The Elusive Northwest Passage (one 50-minute
class period)
Students will learn about
the search for the Northwest Passage They will compare two maps from the
period, one made by a 1798 cartographer and one made by William Clark after the
expedition and examine how the expedition changed Euro-Americans’ geographic
understandings.
Lesson 4: The Métis and the Lewis and Clark Expedition
(one 50-minute class period)*
Students will learn about the Métis by
listening to and discussing the book The Flower Beadwork People, and examining Métis artifacts, music, and
dance.
Lesson 5: Point of View: Lewis and Clark and the Sicangu
Lakota at Bad River (two-three 50-minute class periods)*
Students will analyze
multiple interpretations of a single event: The meeting of the Lewis and Clark
Expedition and the Sicangu Lakota (Teton Sioux) at Bad River, near Pierre,
South Dakota and consider how the tellers’ perspectives shape the way they
portrayed and understood what happened.
Lesson 7: Lewis and Clark: Naturalists (One to two 50-minute
class periods)
Students will try to guess an animal based on descriptions
from the journals. They will then practice describing animals to gain an appreciation
of the skill it takes. Finally, they will learn more about one plant species
the explorers encountered (the bitterroot) before assessing how successful the
Corps of Discovery was at attaining their second goal: collecting information
about plants, animals, and minerals while traveling.
Lesson 9: Step into the Picture (Two to three 50-minute
class periods)
Students will read about
interesting points of Lewis and Clark’s journey (mostly in Montana), examine
artists’ renditions of the voyage, and will imagine themselves into scene
before writing a descriptive poem.
*This lesson needs to be tested by a class in Helena or within a short
drive.
